Eric A498
by KidSavesTheWorld
Summary: Eric was walking home one day when he got shot into the halo universe. how will he survive? AU. rated for the frequent course language
1. Chapter 1

**author's note: Hey guys, look, a new story. yes for those who are wondering, i am not currently continuing the Trooper in the Wastes story. that does not mean that i'm not planning on finishing it. ive found ou the hard way that writing a crossover as your first story may be ambitious, but leaves you with something very shit. however, this being a new story and purely Halo, i feel i wont come across the same issues. i hope everyone enjoys the read. and remember the calling of the magic button at the bottom. pressing it and leaving a review makes chapters magically appear...**

**August 18, 2012(AEST)/**

**Sydney, Earth, SOL**

Eric was finishing his practice with the blades his father bought him for his birthday a few years ago. They were somewhat reminiscent of Katanas, though only two feet long. He held one in each hand, spinning around in a flurry of twirls.

"You'll never be good until you learn to control yourself, Eric", his mentor stated

"Yes Sensei" Eric replied

He put his hands together, knuckles making impact, blades pointed upwards. He breathed slowly, calming his nerves. Moving into his kata's starting stance, he exhaled a sigh of concentration. He moved through the kata slowly, much more slowly than it was originally intended to be.

"_To engage kata slowly takes more skill, young one. Remember this and you shall succeed" _Eric remembered his mentor state. His movements were becoming smoother and more fluent. Looking on, his mentor sat proud that in only two and a half years; he'd managed to discipline a child of such hyperactivity, into the young worrier before him.

Eric spun slowly on one foot, crossing his arms. After the 180 degree turn, he lunged forward, bringing his blades out in a forward slashing cross.

"Well done, Eric. But you moved too quickly towards the end. Remember to control yourself, or you shan't become a disciplined warrior" his Sensei bellowed from a distance

"Yes sensei" Eric replied

"You are finished for the day, you are dismissed"

Eric silently cheered. It was always annoying when his sensei decided he needed more self-restraint. He sheathed his blades and put them in his duffel bag with his polishing stones and his normal clothes. He didn't feel like changing out of his uniform. It was around 10pm so no one he knew would probably be out.

He left the dojo with a respectful bow to his sensei, and walked down the street towards his apartment. Being 15, Eric still lived with his parents. He had an Xbox 360 at home just waiting to be played. He was recently honing his skills in Halo: Reach, in perpetration of Halo 4, which was due to come out in a month or so. He was looking forward to playing some more, so he decided to take a short cut through an alley.

The alley was dark, wet, smelled like shit and was a bad idea. But Eric is the type of person to finish something he started, and continued through the alley. He looked down to make sure he didn't step into a puddle. Looking back up, he noticed a person walking towards him.

'_He must just be walking through the alley as well" _Eric thought

He continued through the alley, approaching the man when he noticed the man's hand go into his jacket and pull something out. The man raised the object and a white beam shot out, enveloping Eric.

The world was white for a few seconds and Eric closed his eyes. He felt the ground come back to his feet and heard a voice

"What's this?"

Eric lowered his arms and opened his eyes just in time to dodge someone attempting to tackle him. Looking up he saw an old man in a lab coat and around 400 people seemingly his age, but extremely tall and muscular.

"Halt! What are you doing here?" the old man said, just as Eric was about to run.

"I-I'm not sure, where is here?" Eric asked

"That information is classified young man. Now you're going to answer a few questions or I might have to kill you" the old man stated

"Ok then, ask away", Eric replied. No point in risking your life over something you don't understand.

"Not here boy, you will follow me" the old man ordered, "Spartans, DISSMISSED!"

'_Did he just call them Spartans?' _Eric thought as the old man motioned for him to follow, which he did.

They walked through the several hallways coming to a room with a large metal door. A sign next to it said 'Interrogation A-4'. Entering, he saw a table with a chair on either side of it; a mirror took up most of one wall. Eric knew exactly what was about to happen and sat in the chair opposite the mirror, the old man sat in the other chair in front of him.

"Ok, my name is Colonel Ackerson, I'll be conducting this interview today" the old man stated

"_The _Colonel Ackerson? The scientist with the grudge against Hasley's Spartans?" Eric asked, astonished.

This didn't sit well with the Colonel, "WHAT! You dare accuse me of this?"

The Colonel started going off his head when a man in military fatigues walked in.

"SIT DOWN ACKERSON!" yelled the newcomer

"You, general, should not be here" Ackerson replied

"I am here. That must mean I should be. You are relieved of this interrogation, and as of this moment its mine"

"You will not here the end of this, general" Ackerson said through gritted teeth

"Leave now" the general said, Ackerson leaving shortly after, slamming the door closed after him

"Sorry about him, he's just a little hot headed" the general assured

"Ok, I'm still confused as to what is going on" Eric stated

"That's fine, I do, however, have to ask how you knew that information. It's classified beyond belief" the general told Eric

"What do you mean classified? It's in a video game series" Eric explained

"Ok, that's weird. We've had a case similar to yours before. A man appeared inside a ship and claimed that everything he saw was from a game called 'Halo'. Does this ring any bells?" the general asked

"Uh yeah. Fuck. Have you ever heard of the multiverse theory?" Eric asked

"Well, that was my thoughts exactly. But ONI may want to talk to you. Let's not let that happen. How would you like to be part of the UNSC?" the General asked

"Well, to be honest, I don't know. I'm only 15. Isn't there a law against that?" Eric asked

"Well we could formulate a false background and say your 19. This would evade ONI's thoughts of you"

"Alright then, sounds good. So now what?" Eric asked

"First things first. I'm going to need a blood sample, to stick you in the database" the general stated

"Ok fine"

Several hours later

Eric was lying on his arms, which were crossed on the table. He never thought that if he were to travel through Universes and end up in Halo, that he'd spend the majority of the time lying on a metal table.

The general returned to the room with a smile on his face.

"What happening, sir?" Eric asked

"Nice, already in character. But I have some news. How would you like to become a Spartan III?" the general asked

Eric sat in shock. Was this general seriously asking him to become one of the heroes of the UNSC?

"Yes, sir, that would be awesome" Eric replied, but something troubled him. "Sir, don't I need specific genetic requirements?"

"Yes. Lucky for you, you have all of them. Welcome to Alpha Company" the general said, holding out his hand.

"Thank you sir" Eric replied, shaking the general's hand

"You will be going into the augmentation procedure now. We assumed you'd say yes, who wouldn't?"

"Too true sir"

"One last thing. Because you are older than the other Spartans, the augmentations will affect you more. You're in for a lot of pain. But you'll be the strongest Spartan III out there" the general stated


	2. Chapter 2

**10 July, 2537(UNSC Calender)/**

**Camp Currahee, Onyx, Zeta Doradus System**

Eric awoke and instantly felt the pain. It was agonizing. It was worse than when he broke his arm as a child. He couldn't even his eyes. He tried to bring his arm up to rub his eyes in an attempt to get them open, only to feel an arm pin him down.

"What is going on?" Eric asked in a quiet, raspy voice.

"Whoa you don't want to move. Your body isn't ready for that yet. Actually you shouldn't be awake yet, doctor, more morphine please" a voice came from next to Eric. It seemed extremely loud to him for some reason.

He could feel the IV drip in his arm go cold and fell back into unconsciousness.

**12 July, 2537(UNSC Calender)/**

**Camp Currahee, Onyx, Zeta Doradus System**

Eric awoke again, expecting the worst, but pleasantly surprised. The pain was next to none and he was able to open his eyes. What he saw confused him. There were two men dressed in military fatigues, one was tall and muscular, the other was smaller than the first, but quite muscular in his own respect.

"Ah, he finally awakes", said the smaller of the two.

"And who might I owe the pleasure of greeting me when I wake?" Eric asked

"I'm Chief Petty Officer Mendez, call me Chief if you want to, and this is Lieutenant Ambrose" said the shorter one.

"Most people call me el-tee" said Ambrose

"Your Kurt and Mendez? Awesome" Eric exclaimed

"Yes, we were informed of your situation, we believe that you would be better off in our new program" Mendez responded

"Oh, the taking the best of the Spartan IIIs and giving them MJOLNIR program?" Eric asked

"Well yeah. I'm guessing those games were quite detailed for you to know that" Kurt replied.

"Well there were a few books as well" Eric stated

"Hmm, well, you should be able to move now so let's see how well you can cope with your new body" Kurt suggested

Eric thought that was a pretty good idea, so he jumped out of bed, only to land straight on his face. A few more attempts and he was walking like a pro. Well, as close as you can get in half an hour.

Mendez turned around and picked something up. When he turned back around he saw a set of military fatigues.

"Petty Officer Second Class?" Eric asked

"Well, your augmented eyes are working a treat. Yes, as you're the oldest of our Spartans, it makes sense for you to be a higher rank. There is a part of your brain, it controls risk management. It also happens to be the last part of the brain to develop. Yours is more developed than any other of the IIIs so it makes sense to put you in charge right?" Mendez asked

"Yeah, I guess so" Eric supposed

"Now, since the rather spontaneous nature of your coming here, you won't be able to get weapons training until after you get to Reach" Kurt stated

"Damn, wait, I'm going to reach?" Eric asked

"Yes, that's where your armour is, in the five days you were asleep-"

"Five days?" Eric cut off

Mendez continued "yes five days, we were able to get you a squad; they are some of the older ones, about a year younger than you. They'll be in your quarters on the ship, awaiting your arrival"

"Sweet, when do I leave?" Eric asked

"Now" Kurt said with a smile.

Eric shrugged and a marine walked in. the marine was a Staff Sergeant, so Eric saluted on his entry.

"You, petty officer, come with me" the Sergeant yelled while pointing at Eric.

Eric had put the fatigues on before the Sergeant came in so he just followed. They walked along several hallways and eventually came to a hangar. A pelican waiting, its engines already started and its hatch open. The Sergeant told Eric to walk in and sit, and then walked away muttering something about how unlucky he was to have to babysit a freak.

The hatch closed and the pelican left the hangar. With its fast acceleration, the pelican left the atmosphere in mere seconds, docking with the _UNSC Artemis' Dispute_.

'_Huh, odd name' _Eric thought

The hatch opened and another Sergeant was waiting.

"You follow, now" the Sergeant bellowed

'_Well the Sergeants are a chatty bunch' _Eric pondered

Eric followed the Sergeant out of the hangar and through some hallways, eventually coming to a stop in front of a door.

"Here are your quarters. Don't get lost" the Sergeant said before leaving

Eric faced a dilemma. He never once thought how the doors inside a frigate would work. After about ten minutes, he decided to knock. The door opened to a blonde woman in military fatigues.

"Yes?" the woman asked

"Uh, hey, I'm this is meant to be my new quarters?" Eric half asked half stated

"Oh, you're the new guy. Your stuff is already here, lucky you. The rest of us had to carry our stuff" said the blonde girl "by the way, I'm Trisha"

"I'm Eric" Eric replied

"Hey, new dude's here. Wassup broseff?" asked a guy with short brown hair

"Uh, the ceiling, broseff" Eric replied

"Ha-ha, I like this guy" the brunette man said

"Everyone this is Eric", Trisha announced

There was a small chorus of greetings then everyone introduced there selves.

"Hey, I'm Peter" said the guy with brown hair

"I'm Kenneth" said another guy, this one with black hair

"My name's Alice" said a girl with brown hair

"And I'm Tina" said a girl with black hair

Eric nodded to each of them respectively as they told him their names.

"So, we were told you were going to be our new squad leader" peter stated

"Yeah, I'm still new to the whole leadership thing" Eric replied "alright, which bunk is mine?"

"Broseff, you're bunking with me" Peter said with a smile

Eric sighed, "Bottom right?"

"You guessed it" Peter mocked

"Meh means it's easier to get in and out of bed" Eric said as he walked over to his bunk.

He noticed a metal footlocker and the end of his bed. Intrigued, he walked over and opened it. To his surprise was everything he had in his duffel bag when he came to the Halo universe, minus the civvies. He pulled out the sheathed blades and placed them on his bed. The he grabbed the polishing stones and sat on the bed. Unsheathing one of his blades, he noticed everyone staring at him.

"What?" Eric asked

"How did you get those in here? It's against regulations" Tina asked

"Let's just say I know a few people" Eric stated with a smile before polishing his blade

A few hours of rubbing a rock in small circles along the length of his sword had made Eric very tired. He sheathed the blades and put them back in the footlocker, laid down and went to sleep.

**13 July, 2537(UNSC Calender)/**

**UNSC Artemis' Dispute, Slipspace, en Route to Reach**

Eric awoke to his squad screaming in his ear.

"I'm up, I'm up" Eric yelled alerting them that their mission was a success

"Finally" Peter yelled throwing his hands in the air

Eric was rubbing the back of his neck in an attempt to wake up faster.

"What time is it?" he asked

"0600 my friend" came the reply from Peter

"Wonderful" Eric responded sarcastically

"Were due for the freezer in 5 people, move out" ordered Trisha

"Isn't that my job?" Eric asked

"Yeah, but you didn't seem fit to give orders" Trisha replied as they walked to the cryo bay.

"Fair enough" Eric responded

They walked through more hallways (Eric was getting sick of hallways, fast) and arrived at the cryo bay. Eric stood in front of the cryo pod, gazing into its technology. His squad were all stripping when Peter notice him standing.

"First time?" Peter asked

"Yeah" Eric replied

"Ah, just take off your clothes, step inside and inhale the anti-freeze, it sucks but it's better than waiting three months on a ship" Peter told him

"Ok, sounds good" Eric responded

He started stripping his clothes off and started to notice how big he'd actually gotten from the augmentation. His muscles had definitely grown and were much more toned and he was taller. Much taller.

He turned and stepped into the pod, which automatically closed and he felt it go cold, very cold.

**10 October, 2537(UNSC Calender)/**

**UNSC Artemis' Dispute, Slipspace, en Route to Reach**

The cryo pods opened in a chorus of hissing sounds. Eric coughed up the anti-freeze in a bit of pain.

'_I now officially hate cryo' _Eric thought while retching up more anti-freeze

"Gah, I hate cryo!" Tina yelled, only drawing attention to the fact that she was still naked

Eric stood, admiring her form, before he realized what he was doing and got back to getting dressed. The Spartans walked to the mess hall to get some food in their stomachs. Not eating for three months kind of makes you hungry. Eric got his tray and moved along the line, being given a colourless glob of what looked like oats, but he thought it probably wasn't.

The Spartans all sat together and started to eat. There was the usual chatter of teasing laughing and just being loud, you know, like all 14/15 year olds.

"Leaving Slipspace in three" a voice came over the speakers

"Hold onto your shit!" Peter yelled

"Two... one" the entire ship shuddered and one unfortunate marine lost her breakfast.

"Well that was pleasant" Eric said sarcastically

"Ha-ha you said it man" yelled Peter

Eric was getting to know his squad better over the course of their very long breakfast.

Firstly there was Tina. She was quiet, very beautiful though, actually, all the girls were. Tina was different to the others, unlike Alice and Trisha who were almost exactly alike, except how they looked. Eric had no doubt in his mind though that she was amazing on the battlefield.

Then there was Kenneth who was really nice as a guy, but seemed to change into something incredibly spontaneous out of nowhere. Also he was the only one of African descent in the squad. Everyone else was Caucasian.

Peter was incredibly odd, though one thing could be said about him that stands out the most. For a guy with a suppressed sex drive, he is really perverted. Like fricken perverted.

Trisha and Alice was almost the same person. It was uncanny. They agreed on everything, even to the point to coming up with the same idea, simultaneously without communicating at all. Their appearances did differ though, not much facially; Trisha had fatter lips. Alice was bustier than Trisha, who was more of a long legged type.

All in all, Eric liked his squad.

"All Spartans report to hangar 1-B immediately" a voice announced over the ship's speakers

The squad dropped what they were doing and started running towards the hangar. Running through the ship was getting annoying for Eric; he had no idea where anything was. He was lucky he was with the squad or else he'd probably take three days to do what he had done in two minutes.

They arrived at the hangar to be greeted by Hasley herself.

"Greetings Spartans" Hasley welcomed

"ma'am" said the entirety of the Spartan group, there were three squads

"Today you get equipment on par with the Spartan IIs. Today you become real Spartans." Hasley proclaimed

Eric was itching to put on the suit. He knew it wouldn't be Mark V yet but he still couldn't wait for the extra speed and strength.

Hasley led the group of Spartans to some pelicans, which flew them to a location described as 'need to know, only'. Once there, much like how Eric had read about the Spartan IIs getting MJOLNIR, Hasley asked for a volunteer. Of course Eric put his hand up instantaneously. He was chosen and told to come to the front, where technicians had a suit ready. They started putting on the under suit which felt very odd on Eric's skin. Then they put the main armour components on, which Eric found to be quite odd. They weren't what the Spartans IIs wore.

"Hey this looks different to what the IIs wore" Eric said

"Yes, this is the B variant of the Mark IV armour. The differences are mostly aesthetic but a few system things are different" Hasley stated

The suit took half an hour to put on, mostly because the under suit was comprised of around 50 pieces of armour. But eventually they put on the helmet and the suit started to boot up and synchronize with his newly inserted neural lace.

"Ok systems check is green. Now let's give everyone a demonstration of the speed the suit gives its occupants shall we? Move your right hand to your chest" Hasley ordered.

Eric complied and moved his arm to his chest in a flash.

"Whoa" was all he could say

"Nicely done. Now in order for you to get used to the suit, you have to complete this training course we have set up" Hasley told him

"Sounds good" Eric replied, smiling behind his golden visor

He jumped off the platform to the training area in one bound, marvelling in the fact he could do so. He looked up at the course. It was immense. The sizes of the jumps were huge, there were several pylons that he had to jump across and there was a section completely under water.

"This is gonna be fun" he chuckled to himself


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Ok new chapter. its a little short but i have my reasons to rush. lets hope i have another chapter up tomorrow :D and even longer than this one.**

**11 October, 2537(UNSC Calender)/**

**Artemis' Dispute, in orbit above Reach**

"ALRIGHT MAGGOTS! TODAY IS WEAPONS TRAINING!" barked the drill instructor.

"But, we've done that already" Tina stated

"Yes, yes you have. But today is different. As you know, that armour you're wearing makes you stronger and faster. That means you need to learn how to shoot without crushing your weapon" the drill instructor spoke. It was calm, a major contrast to the yelling at everyone a moment ago.

"We can do that?" Alice asked.

"Yes you can, but don't try, these guns are expensive" the drill instructor answered.

"Aw but I really wanted to test that out" Kenneth complained, the squad taken to calling him Ken, and the girls called him Kenny.

"WELL YOUR NOT GONNA DO IT, OKAY!" the drill instructor screamed.

'_Dude's got a soft spot for the ladies huh?'_ Eric thought.

"SIR, YES, SIR!" Ken yelled in response.

Eric knew that the training was for him, but didn't say so. He was the only one who didn't have any form of training with a gun; so naturally, the UNSC devised a simple way to hide that.

Eric noticed how the other Spartans held their weapons, and held his as best he could. The MA5B he held was aimed down range. He fired, letting loose all 62 rounds from the magazine.

He looked to his right to see someone holding a triple barrelled minigun.

"Peter, that's you with the ridiculously big gun isn't it" Eric asked

"What, you don't recognise me?" Peter questioned back

"I can't see your face, how was I meant to recognise you?"

"Good point, but yes it is me. Me and my AIE-486H Heavy Machine Gun"

"It looks pretty heavy, how are you holding that?"

"This armour is fucking amazing; I even crushed the handle a bit"

Eric just shook his head and reached for a new gun. This one was the M392 Designated Marksman Rifle. He sighted his target through the 3x optical scope, and let a shot ring out. The recoil was surprising at first, but thinking back to when he had played Halo: Reach, he realized that not even Spartans could actually tame this beast's kick back. He looked through the scope again and smiled to see he had shot the target in the directly in the centre.

Aiming again, he finished off the other 14 rounds left in the magazine, hitting in a small area around the centre of the target. Looking around at the other targets, his triumphant ego took an enormous hit seeing the other targets centres missing entirely due to the sheer accuracy the other Spartans had with their weapons. Even Peter, holding his heavy machine gun at his hip, had better accuracy.

A few hours had passed and Eric's shooting slowly got better, but a small covenant fleet were spotted inside one of the outer systems the UNSC had control over. So the Spartan's shooting day was cut short by the cryo sleep they had to take whilst on the way to the colony.

"I HATE CRYO, SO FUCKING MUCH!" Alice yelled, once again one of the girls drew attention to their naked selves.

Eric sighed but couldn't resist sneaking a peak, he found her to be quite, well, for lack of a better word, sexy.

"Enjoying the view too huh?" Peter suggested

"Yeah.. Wait, no. I was merely examining my squad's physical stature" Eric replied

"Yes, and I'm the fucking tooth fairy"

"Your sarcasm overwhelms me"

"I do try" peter laughed, stepping into his pod.

"Ha-ha, I've noticed" Eric laughed.

Eric took one last look at the wall in front of his pod, took a deep breath, hopped into the pod and swallowed the anti-freeze.

'_I hate cryo too'_ was Eric's last thought before he was frozen.

**11 November, 2537(UNSC Calender)/**

**UNSC Artemis' Dispute, Slipspace, en Route to Hades System**

"GAH FUCK!" yelled Ken as he retched up the anti-freeze

"Agreed" Tina mumbled between breaths

The squad eventually stopped throwing up and headed to put on their new armour. Why? Because they could.

Eric donned his MJOLNIR Mark IV (B) armour, putting on each piece as carefully as the technicians had on Reach. Then he strapped his blades in a cross on his lower back and put his DMR on his back, where the magnetic strip was. His helmet was the last to go on an when he had put it on, warming for Slipspace exit blared over the ship's speakers, alerting everyone to battle stations. They exited Slipspace to find a world on fire. The colony had already taken huge losses but the UNSC weren't about to give up.

The Spartans ran through the ship to the SOEIV bay. Some ODSTs were prepping to get ready when the Spartans turned up.

"Well if it isn't the freaks" one of the ODSTs said, he looked like he was the leader

"We're using pods too. Cut the heckling, the enemy is down there. Let's just hop in and save those people down there" Eric stated, not wanting another ODST vs Spartans fight.

"Well, what makes you think that you are entitled to use our gear?" the lead ODST asked, in a tone Eric wasn't happy with.

"Look, there are twelve pods; there are twelve of us here. We have our gear, we're just using the pods that you're not. So shut the fuck up, before I start smashing skulls" peter stepped forward and started yelling.

"STAND DOWN SPARTAN!" Eric yelled. Picking up on the lingo Carter used in Halo: Reach

"Sir" peter said through gritted teeth

"You, ODST, you don't have a choice. These pods are designated for my squad" Eric tried reasoning, resentment filling his words

"You know what? Fine. Have your pods. But I hope they fail" the lead ODST yelled before motioning his squad into their pods.

Eric sat in his pod, it was different from the ones his squad were using in that it was a command pod. Basically, more screens and buttons.

The doors on the pods closed and the start-up sequence began, first the screens came on and Eric could see a live feed of his squad who were also in their pods. Then the pods turned and the bay doors opened.

"Alright Spartans, this is our first combat situation with MJOLNIR. Be fast, be deadly" Eric said over the TEAMCOM.

"Sir" said every single Spartan, simultaneously.

Eric smiled "that's what I like to hear"

The pod's countdown started and soon they were entering the atmosphere at twice the speed of sound. Reaching the appropriate altitude, the pods automatically let out there chutes. Then the reverse thrusters slowed the pod even further before it hit the ground.

The jolt of smashing into the ground sent Eric further in his seat. Looking around the pod, he noticed the green buttons. Remembering Halo 3: ODST, he hit the buttons and the pod's door flew away from it. Stepping out, Eric noticed they weren't in a combat zone. This was extremely odd, considering Spartans were designed for combat.

"This is Sierra Alpha-498 to UNSC Artemis' Dispute, how copy?" Eric asked over the COM

"This is UNSC Artemis' Dispute to Viper Actual, good copy" was the response.

"Where are we needed?" Eric replied

"There is a fire fight going on in the city, about 20 kliks west of you"

"We're there yesterday"

"Good, see you topside Spartans, Artemis' Dispute, out"

"Ok everyone, you no doubt heard that, let's get moving" Eric commanded, to which the Spartans all saluted and started running towards the fire fight.

Eric was still surprised by the speed the armour and augmentations made him run. He was doing close to 50km/h, and the fight was closing in fast.

It wasn't long until they reached the fight. The marines trying to defend the city were being decimated by the Covenant. The sheer numbers alone were enough for the Covenant to just roll over them.

Eric's squad instantly pulled out their guns, except Peter, who had his gigantic minigun already in his hands. The Spartans took advantage of their speed and strength, doing summersaults while firing. The marines noticed them and started to cheer, and fought back harder than when the Covenant first showed up.

"The flipping continued, especially from the girls, whose nimble bodies were easy to flip around. Eric and Peter had not gone charging in, but instead provided cover support. Eric was taking out grunts, jackals and skirmishers left right and centre, while Peter just fired his heavy machine gun in the general direction of the enemy. Then the Wraiths came.

The sky lit up as the blue mortars of flaming death rained down on the marines, vaporising every single last one of them. Eric was disgusted at this, they were mostly injured and no immediate threat, but the Covenant didn't care.

"Take out those damned Wraiths!" Eric ordered

All of the Spartans, Eric included, ran at the purple enemy tanks, dodging the mortars the Wraiths let loose.

"The rear has a thin plate covering a reactor, just drop in a grenade" Eric ordered.

The Spartans continued running and just before they reached the enemy tanks, they flipped over it and landed in a crouch behind the tanks. They ripped off the reactor covers and dropped grenades into them. The Spartans sprinted away and avoided the mass amount of purple and pink explosions the Wraiths made as they detonated. They then move back towards the Covenant army, continuing their flipping and firing.

After about an hour of fighting, they finally removed the entire Covenant presence from the area. They were low on ammo and tired so, like all Spartans, they went to find more Covies.

"Well, you girls certainly are acrobatic" Eric commented as they walked through the streets of the city.

"Is that a compliment?" Tina asked.

"Yes, yes it is" Eric replied.

"Thank you" Alice and Trisha smiled simultaneously.

"Again with that? I swear you two are the same person" Ken stated with a laugh.

"Well you obviously don't know us that well" Alice said, almost a hurt tone in her voice.

"And if you did, you'd pick up our obvious differences" Trisha said, equally as hurt.

"Well, you're boned" Peter stated.

"Agreed" Eric said.

The Spartans all laughed as they continued to search for the enemy.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: yes another chapter so early. its short but only because i thought it was a good place to end the chapter. lets go for 3k words next time :D anyway, Please Review!**

**11 November, 2537(UNSC Calender)/**

**Katinka City, Pandora VIII, Hades System**

Plasma rained down like, well, water when it's raining. Viper squad were taking cover and Eric asked for an ammo count. Each Spartans had around 1 or 2 magazines left for their main weapons, except Peter, who had discarded his gigantic weapon and pulled out a MA5B.

The Spartans had an army after them, and all odds were in the enemy's favour. Eric took a peak around the wall he was using as cover. There were probably four hundred enemies, and none had vehicles, thank Peter's now discarded minigun for that. He pulled his head back to cover as the enemy's fire increased around him.

"ok, here's what we're gonna' do. As much as it pains me to say, we'll have to use their own weapons against them. Be careful with your choice as some of them have a failsafe causing them to explode. Just listen for the tell tail signs of an impending covenant explosion" Eric yelled into his COM.

There was a chorus of "sir" and they left cover, throwing everything they had at the enemy. Eric quickly found himself out of ammo so he looked to the ground while dodging enemy fire. Unfortunately, the area he was in was where the Covies had sent the cannon fodder in. there was nothing but plasma pistols everywhere. He hesitantly picked one up and breathed a sigh of relief when it didn't detonate in his hands. He turned to the enemy, trigger fingering like mad. But the pistol quickly over heated, burning his hand.

"Fuck!" he yelled, dropping the weapon.

"You ok?" Tina asked.

"Yeah, be careful, the weapons overheat and burn you if you shoot for a sustained burst" Eric called back.

"Got it" Ken acknowledged.

The Spartans continued murdering the Covenant using their own weapons, Eric pulling off many headshots on Jackals and Skirmishers. He found a needler and smiled. He knew they went explosive when there was too many inside a certain area. He picked it up and noticed an Elite Zealot charging Peter with an energy sword. Eric raised the needler and fired all the ammunition it had at the Elite. The pink needles flew straight and true, striking the Elite in the chest before exploding, removing the Elite from existence.

"Thanks" Peter said.

"You're welcome" Eric said.

He noticed that Peter had started looking at what was left of the Elite Zealot that had just detonated. He bent down and picked up two objects; both were silver tube like objects. Eric instantly knew what they were and started sprinting towards his fellow Spartan. He dive tackled Peter and got up to take the tubes away from him.

"What the fuck?" Peter protested.

"These are type one energy weapons, the fact they weren't destroyed by the failsafe when the Elite died is not a good sign. Anyway, since they're not exploding, we should give them to ONI. They'd want something to study" Eric reasoned.

"Well, I found it, isn't it my decision?" Peter complained.

They were still fighting the Covenant while having this argument.

"I don't know if I should trust you with sharp things, let alone super-heated gas contained by an electromagnetic field in the shape of sharp things" Eric stated with a small laugh.

"I'm hurt, I truly am hurt" Peter said, returning the laugh.

"Ok I'll give you them. But don't try using them until we get to a safe zone, that way you don't kill yourself trying to kill something else" Eric sated and started running towards his companion.

"Sounds reasonable" Peter said back, taking the tubes off of Eric.

"They really don't shut up do they?" Trisha asked Alice over a private COM link.

"No, no they don't" Alice said with a grunt as she punched a Jackal's face into oblivion.

"Anyway, did you see Charles?" Trisha asked.

"Oh yes, how could I not?" Alice laughed back.

"It's a shame he's navy, I could think of a few things I'd like to do to him" Trisha stated before she meowed playfully.

"Ha-ha too true"

Soon enough the Spartans had finished off the rest of the Covenant in the area. Eric smiled to himself as he looked at the sea of homicidal aliens, face first in the ground, dead. He noticed Peter searching more Elites and smiled when he saw what he was doing.

"Having fun on your little search?" ken asked, obviously noticing the same thing.

"Just a little research to be made" Peter replied.

"oh just leave them alone, we've got to' find somewhere to sleep" Eric yelled.

"Fine" Peter conceded, walking towards the rest of Viper.

Eric noticed his pouches were all full of those tubes. He sighed and led the team off into the sunset.

**A few hours later**

"What about this one?" Alice asked.

"Nah, to destroyed" Ken replied.

"That one?" Trisha asked.

"Nah, its silver, I don't like silver" ken replied.

"Ken I'm going to shove my foot up your ass if you don't shut the fuck up" Tina yelled.

"This one?" Peter asked.

"Looks good, everyone, we're breaching this house" Eric ordered.

Viper squad went to breaching positions and waited for the order to kick in the doors.

"Three, two, one, BREACH BREACH BREACH!" Eric ordered

The squad kicked in the doors and rushed through the house.

"Living room's clear"

"Kitchen's clear"

"Bedrooms are clear"

"Good" Eric stated, happy he could avoid another fight.

The squad stated sitting down in the living room, taking off their helmets.

"Who's hungry?" Ken asked, walking in with a few bags of crisps.

"That" Alice said, pointing to the crisps in Ken's hands, "won't feed any of us, let's eat our rations"

"Sounds like a plan" Tina stated.

"NOT IT!" Peter shouted.

"NOT IT!"

"NOT IT!"

"NOT IT!"

"NOT IT!"

"NOT FUCK!" Ken yelled, just not quickly enough.

"You know the rules, cook us some dinner" Peter yelled, laughing the whole time.

"What's funny?" Tina asked.

"It seems a little odd don't you think?" Peter stated.

"What seems odd?" Trisha asked.

"The only black guy in the squad is cooking dinner, it seems almost racist" peter retorted.

"Yeah, you make a good point. But you're too lazy and I'm in charge, so that leave the girls or Ken. It's going to seem insensitive no matter what" Eric replied.

"Yeah, I guess you're right, well I'm going to one of the bedrooms. Gotta' continue my research" Peter said, standing up and going into one of the rooms.

The rest of the squad waited for the food to be ready. When I was done, they all ate then went to sleep.

'_Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day'_ Eric thought as unconsciousness took over.

**12 November, 2537(UNSC Calender)/ **

**Katinka City, Pandora VIII, Hades System**

Eric awoke at 4am. Everyone did. There was a CCS-Class Battle Cruiser was in orbit above the city, its excavation beam powering up.

Eric looked out the window and quickly stepped back from it, noticing he wasn't the only one awake.

"EVERYBODY MOVE!" he ordered and Viper squad sprinted away from the Cruiser.

They had gotten about 10km away when the beam fired. The shockwave it caused launched the squad a good fifty metres away. Getting up, Eric noticed the ship moving in the opposite direction than he was, meaning he was safe for now. He spotted a troop transport warthog and ordered everyone in. He placed his hand on a pad and it recognised his armour and the engine roared to life. He smiled and floored it away from the Cruiser's beam.

"UNSC Artemis' Dispute, this is Viper Actual. How copy?" Eric asked over the COM.

"Sierra what are you doing down there? We ordered evacuation an hour ago" the ensign said back.

"Sorry, we were kind of under that cruiser, it blocked our transmissions. Where can we get an evac?" Eric asked.

"Grid Alpha-Niner-One-One-Six, you've got five minutes Spartan"

"Make it three" Eric said before killing the COM.

A waypoint popped up on his HUD and he gunned the warthog in the general direction. He rounded a corner sideways and nicked the back of the car against a parked bus before flooring it towards their destination.

They arrived at the rendezvous point to see nothing. Then a pelican swooped down and latched the warthog on the back and took off.

"Check suit integrity Viper" Eric ordered.

"Green" every Spartan said simultaneously

They flew out into space and docked with the _Artemis' Dispute_.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hey guys, long time no see. Why? I'm lazy, what teenager isn't? exactly. Well here is chapter 5 and it's a short one. really short. like 400 words shorter than the previous shortest chapter. i plan on making the chapters longer, but of course that is harder than it sounds. oh well, enjoy and as always, review!**

**26 January, 2538(UNSC Calender)/**

**UNSC Artemis' Dispute, in orbit above Reach**

"FUCK!" Eric yelled coughing up the anti-freeze.

Yes, he just got out of cryo. After Viper had gotten on the _Artemis' Dispute, _they made several random jumps as per the Cole Protocol. The Spartans had been put in cryo for the time being, as did every other crew member aboard.

The Spartans got dressed and headed off to the mess hall, it was sort of becoming habit. Eric waited in line and was surprised when he got some lasagne.

"What's this? No colourless goop today?" Eric asked the cook.

"Nah you're in luck, its microwaved lasagne that is probably stale. Enjoy" she said with a forced smile.

"I will" Eric said, leaving for the table his squad sat at.

"Viper leader to the bridge" said a voice from the ship's speakers.

"Aw man. I just got some lasagne" Eric complained.

"DIBS" the Spartans yelled simultaneously.

"First, what's with all the yelling stuff at the same time, secondly, its mine" Eric said before putting the entire lasagne in his mouth.

"Toodles" Eric said, muffled by his food.

Eric swallowed the lasagne and headed for the bridge. He was surprised at how close it was to the mess hall and walked in. stopping when he saw the Captain, he saluted and stood at attention.

"At ease" the Captain commanded, to which Eric moved his left foot out and his hands behind his back.

"We were able to monitor your team on the battlefield from orbit, that is, before we lost a connection when the Cruiser decided to hover above you. We noticed your skills in commanding a team were exceptionally pleasing, as well as your team's discipline on the battlefield. As of this moment, you are being promoted to Chief Petty Officer, congratulations" the Captain said.

"Thank you, sir" Eric said back, no expression was on his face but he smiled inwardly.

"But I'm afraid that's not the only reason I brought you here" the Captain's tone became one of sympathy.

"Sir?" Eric asked.

"A few months ago, while we were defending Katinka, Ackerson sent 300 Spartans on Operation: PROMETHIUS. All 300 were confirmed KIA. The UNSC has told me to keep this information from any Spartan teams I can. But I know how close you Spartans are with each other. I'm sorry for your loss"

"Sir, permission to inform my team" Eric requested.

"Granted, but please don't let this affect your performance on the battlefield"

"Yes sir"

"Dismissed"

Eric saluted and left for his team, he had no idea how to tell them what had happened. He already knew about it, but thought his influence on the universe may change some things.

'_Maybe that was just unavoidable? They were built- we were built to die on the battlefield'_ Eric pondered.

He found his team in their quarters and had them sit down before he told them.

"Are you serious? Every one of them?" Tina asked.

"Yes" Eric said, not knowing what to say.

They sat in silence for a few hours, eventually deciding to try and sleep off their problems. No one had a good night's sleep that night.

**27 January, 2538(UNSC Calender)/**

**UNSC Artemis' Dispute, in orbit above Reach**

Eric groaned as he rolled out of bed, hitting the ground hard. He looked around and saw his squad was gone.

'_Why didn't they wake me?' _Eric thought.

He got up and dressed so he could go search for them. He wondered the ship for half an hour, trying to think of where they would have gotten off to. His first thought was the mess hall. When they weren't there, he went to the firing range. Again, he didn't find them.

When he finally found them, they were in the gym.

"Hey guys, how's everyone doing?" Eric asked his squad.

"Well, we are working off a lot of steam, so better than before, but still not so good" ken stated.

"It's good to see you guys are coping. I know I can't be in your heads, so I don't know how well your coping, but you are, so that's a bonus" Eric tried to reason.

"Yeah" Alice said, her eyes glazed in thought.

"Hey, not everyone is dead guys. We are here, and so are the other IIIs that the el-tee and chief chose. We are alive. We will stay that way" Tina stated.

"You always knew how to build moral" Peter said, a smile edged his lips.

"What can I say? It's a gift" Tina said.

"Who wants to spar? Bet I could beat any of you" Eric challenged.

"You're on" Ken yelled.

The two Spartans entered the boxing ring in the corner of the gym. Eric cracked his knuckles and his neck before assuming a fighting stance. Ken just assumed the stance. Eric tried to read Ken as they circled one another. Ken eventually swung a left hook, which Eric saw coming and ducked. Unfortunately, he fell straight into Ken's trap, which was brought to his attention when a knee struck him in the face. He staggered back a couple of steps but regained his composure in time to block another left hook and deliver one of his own. Not having any experience with this sort of thing, Eric thought he was doing really well, when ken suddenly dropped swung his leg out, tripping Eric and forcing him to the ground. Eric never saw it coming; he was upside down in a clinch with his body weight being pressed on his neck. He figured it was lost and tapped out.

"Well, that was quick" Tina observed.

"That's what she said!" Peter yelled.

"Oh god seriously? I mean we can't go ten minutes without a 'that's what she said' joke from you? They aren't even funny anymore" Ken ranted.

"They never were" Trisha stated.

"Well you're going to have to put up with it" Peter said, smirking.

"Seriously though, Ken, well done, didn't think you beat me so well" Eric said, putting his hand out.

"Thank you, now, who else wants to feed my ego?" Ken asked.

"Ha-ha very funny" Tina chuckled.

The Spartans spent several hours in the gym after that, weights, cardio, sparing and chatting.


	6. Chapter 6

**12 February, 2538 (UNSC Calender)/**

**Artemis' Dispute, Ferrum System, in orbit above Jericho XXI**

**2 Weeks Later**

"The covenant are interested in something here, they don't normally camp out like this. Your mission is to find out what they're looking for" the A.I. said, showing a map of the area.

"Status on ground forces?" Eric asked armoured up, except his helmet, which was held snuggly against his armpit.

The team had been given a new colour configuration for their mission; black everything, including the visor. So Eric assumed the mission was meant to be stealth.

"We're getting hammered. We'll be pulling out soon so you need to finish this mission ASAP. Your helmet cameras will be used to document everything you see and the ship's ONI liaison, Captain Pearce, will be providing tactical support"

"By tactical support you mean exactly?"

"He's going to talk to you from the ship"

"Wonderful"

"You have a pelican waiting for you in hanger bay 3"

"Alright Spartans, move out" Eric commanded.

Viper squad filed out and headed for the hanger. The crew watched in awe as the Spartans, in their new colour schemed armour, and walked the corridors of the _Artemis' Dispute_. They entered the pelican and headed towards the drop zone.

"We hit the dirt in 5 minutes!" the pilot yelled.

"Got it!" Eric yelled back.

"You excited?" Tina asked.

"Yeah" peter said with a shaky voice.

"Sounds like you're shitting your pants" Ken said.

The Spartans erupted into laughter when the hatch started to open. Looking out the hatch the Spartans saw green AA fire exploding all around them, some of the Flak coming into contact with the Pelican.

"2 minutes!" the pilot yelled.

The Spartans unstrapped and stood. They lined up; ready to jump out the moment the pelican got a safe distance from the ground.

The light in the troop bay went from red to green as the pelican swooped in low and the Spartans all started jumping out.

They hit the ground and set up a perimeter, not that it was needed to, but protocol is exactly that, Protocol. They seemed to have landed in a grass field, thus visibility was low.

"Viper, on me" Eric ordered.

No sooner had he given the order than his squad turned up.

"Alright, we're Oscar Mike"

Viper headed towards the enemy encampment using all the stealth measures they could, even private radio silence, which was untraceable.

Eric took point, M392 in hand and an M6G on each leg. His chest was covered in pouches full of ammunition, they probably wouldn't need that much ammo but it pays to be on the safe side.

He looked back at his squad who were all similarly outfitted. The girls all went for their M3A3s, Ken went for a BR55 and Peter went for a M90 shotgun. Though Peter instead of a sidearm had one of the tubes he had taken on each leg.

Eric put his fist up as they approached the enemy encampment, signalling his squad to halt.

"Ken and Tina, I want you two to scout the area to the East, Alice and Trisha, you got West, report what you see" Eric commanded and his HUD got green lights pop up next to the chosen squad members names.

"Why didn't I get an order?" Peter asked.

"Because you're too fidgety to run recon" Eric deadpanned, keeping an eye out for any covenant that may stumble upon them.

"Well that's rather harsh" peter stated, obviously hurt by his superior's words.

"Indeed" Eric said back.

"Sir, West side is mostly clear" Alice reported.

"So is the East side" Tina added.

"East side is closer to the objective, regroup on Tina" Eric commanded.

Viper complied with the order and went to the rally point. From there Eric scouted for himself.

There was a 'street' sort of thing running a direct path towards an odd structure; on either side of the street were purple buildings with rounded walls and rooftops.

"The building at the end, that's forerunner architecture. You are to enter that building" a voice came in over the COM.

"Captain?" Eric asked.

"Yes, this is Captain Pearce, enter the building Spartan" Pearce ordered.

"Sir" Eric said before ordering the squad to move.

They walked down the street, three on each side to help avoid the enemy spotting them.

"I wonder why there are so little of them" Tina thought out loud.

"Chances are they're in that building" Ken replied.

"Yeah, probably"

They headed for what seemed like the entrance to the building, to find a holographic panel. Eric couldn't make two cents of the language and the captain noticed this.

"Hold your hand over the big red circle, Spartan"

Eric did as he was told.

"Ah, that makes sense" he said as the door fell into the ground.

The Spartans started walking in the building, guns raised and searching for targets. It was dark, very dark. So dark that the night vision mode on their visors didn't work and they were forced to use the torches on their helmets, making them easy targets.

"I got a bad feeling about this" Ken whispered.

"That is so cliché" Alice commented.

"Cliché or not, it's true" Ken said.

"Well shut up. You know what happens when people say that in movies"

"Well yeah I do. But this is real life. And in real life, I have a bad feeling"

Then the lights came on. Viper was completely surrounded by Covenant.

"Well, we found the Covies at least" Ken stated matter-of-factly.

"Just shut up" Alice said in an annoyed tone.

"TAKE COVER!" Eric yelled.

The plasma started to fly as the Spartans each move to spots where they were out of the line of fire. Eric had chosen a support beam with odd glowing runes. He popped his head around the corner to get some form of an idea of what they were up against.

There were brutes, a lot of brutes, of all kinds, Minors, Captains and a Chieftain. The Chieftain just so happened to have a gravity hammer, which was a worry. There were grunts galore though, so that brightened his mood a bit. Then the Jackals, sharpshooters and skirmishers. Not good.

Eric brought his M392 to his shoulder, sight a few grunts, each ending with a bullet to the neck before he had to duck behind cover or risk losing his face. He turned and shot from the other side of the pillar, suddenly relishing his decision to take a lot of ammo. A few more grunts with bullets in their brains later, he was once again taking cover.

"Lob your 'nades at them!" he yelled, the response being several explosions.

Using the distraction, Ken leapt out from cover and started firing on the enemies. The dazed Covies quickly noticed their allies dying and returned fire.

Before Eric could yell to get back behind cover a purple needle imbedded itself in Ken's visor. He fell to his knees before a pink explosion took place inside his helmet, completely blowing out his visor with bits of brain matter flying out of it.

"NO!" Alice yelled.

"FUCKFUCKFUCK!" Tina screamed.

"Oh god" Eric whispered under his breath.

Trisha just stopped moving, staring at Ken's unmoving form clad in blood drenched armour. Peter had a dark look about him.

Everyone was shocked.

Before anything else could happen, Peter pulled out the tubes from his leg strips. With a quick flick emerged two energy blades from each tube. He held them by his sides, shoulders squared and his head down. Suffice to say, he was pissed, and the Covies knew it.

The Grunts trembled, the Jackals fled and the brutes, the brutes got angry. The chieftain surprised everyone with a charge at Peter, yelling a battle cry the whole way. It got close to him with it hammer raised. Peter didn't hesitate and with one slash decapitated the brute before it could crush him. Putting one sword back on it magnetic strip, he bent down and picked up the gravity hammer. Another foolish brute decided that since his boss had done so well, he might give it a try. Peter just threw the hammer at it. The hammer spun through the air in a wide arc before the powered end collided with the charging brute's head, crushing it's skull in the process.

Eric too felt the primal instinct to seek vengeance and pulled out his blades from their sheaths. He jumped forward, slashing a jackals head off, before running towards the brute pack. They all snarled before reading their weapons but by that time Eric was already upon them. The first brute swung a backhanded fist at him. He ducked and in the motion slashed at its stomach, spilling its intestines over the ground. The next one stepped back bringing its Brute shot to bear. But Eric was too quick and pushed the barrel towards another brute who immediately started screaming. The gun went off, silencing the screaming brute and Eric forced a blade up through the bottom of the original brute's head with enough force to break all the way through the skull and armour on the brute. Eric was about to slice another brute when a blue flash decapitated it. He turned and nodded at Peter who was wielding both of his energy swords again. Peter got the message and they both charged. Peter went into to a flurry of spins decapitating brutes left right and centre while Eric went for the more slice and dice you would have seen the ancient Spartans doing, using rolls and flips to cut down his enemy. The fight was brief, but every single brute lied dead in their wake. The grunts and jackals that Tina hadn't cut down with gunfire had fled and Alice was attempting to comfort the still shell shocked Trisha.

"Spartan, don't forget the mission" the captain said over the radio.

"Yes sir, where do you want us to go?" Eric replied.

"The area the brute were standing, I think I see a door"

"Roger, Viper actual out"

Eric looked towards the area in question and there was in fact a door. He walked over towards the forerunner door, wiping and sheathing his blades. He jumped slightly when the door opened on its own but quickly regathered himself and peered in with his gun raised. What he saw was a room with a pedestal in the middle. On the pedestal was a strange looking gun.

"Uh, captain? I think you're going to want to come down here" Eric said over his radio.

"Yes, yes I am. We are already on our way, our pelican will be your means of travel back to the _Artemis' Dispute_. Well done Spartan, out"

Eric sighed before turning. He stopped straight away when he spotted the body of his friend and fellow squad member, Ken. He was suddenly filled with emotion again, sadness, anger, regret, pain. He turned and punched the wall, decided it didn't hurt enough and punched it again and again until his hand was broken along with the armour upon it. He turned back and leaned against the wall, sliding down into a seated position and taking of his helmet. He sighed and checked his hand.

"Yep, definitely broken" he said before raking his other hand through his hair.

Tina came and sat next to him, her helmet off as well, and leaned her head against his shoulder plate. Knowing she must be looking for comfort he wrapped his arm around her. She then turned into him and started to sob.

"It's ok, it's ok" he couldn't think of anything else to say, his mind somewhat occupied with thoughts of what they will do with Ken's body.

"It's ok. He's gone to a better place, the same place we'll go. When our time comes" he said, squeezing her a bit tighter.

**A/N: new chappie, hope u enjoyed :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**1 March, 2538 (UNSC Calendar)/**

**New Alexandria War Memorial, Reach, Epsilon Eridani system**

The sky was dark, the rain bucketed down and the entire crew of the UNSC _Artemis' Dispute_ stood at attention in complete dress uniform. The mood was grim as The Last Post was played by a lone trumpeter. In the last campaign on Jericho XXI, the crew of the _Artemis' Dispute_ had suffered severe casualties in the Covenant's relentless assault on the planet. The UNSC had won the first battle, but like so many times before, the Covenant arrive en mass and eliminated all resistance. The crew were quickly ordered back to the ship with only 48% of them surviving. In sympathy of the crew's losses the UNSC held this memorial service to commend the bravery of those soldiers who had given their lives to protect Earth and all her colonies. The crew of the _Artemis' Dispute _and three other ships had come to the event, all suffering significant casualties during the campaign.

Eric couldn't help letting a tear roll down his face as he remembered what happened to Ken, whom had died under his leadership. The Sergeants and Commissioned Officers had given him their condolences after the escape, knowing full well that it was his first death under his command.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Tina having a tear roll down her face as well. The two had become close, even if merely to gain some form of comfort from the loss of their squad mate and friend, but had blossomed becoming a couple of sorts.

The Last Post had ended and the twenty-one gun salute started to sound out.

"Attention!" the twenty-one soldiers in a perfect line stood straight.

"Raise arms!" they raised their M392 Designated Marksmen Rifles at a forty-five degree angle.

"Fire!" they fired off three shots in perfect unison.

Eric lowered his head in respect of the fallen, so many had died, had suffered, had given everything asked of them and more just to give humanity a chance. The Spartans weren't the true heroes of the war. The men, women and children who had given their lives so that others may live were the heroes. And they deserved more than his respect, but the whole of humanity's respect.

Viper was dismissed but being Spartans meant that they didn't get any leave. The rest of the crew, save the Captain and the ONI liaison, were left on Reach while an entirely new crew manned the ship on her next patrol.

The trip in the pelican back to the _Artemis' Dispute _was quiet. Everyone had despair written all over their faces. Trisha still hadn't said a word, Peter had become overly aggressive Alice and Tina had become emotional wrecks, and Eric had guilt eating at him every second of everyday.

Life had sucked for the Spartans of Viper team, but they were exactly that, Spartans. And Spartans never give up.

The pelican docked and the Spartans all stood, save Peter who had been standing the entire time, even in the zero gravity, and walked into the hangar.

"CPO Eric A-498 to medical ward immediately" the ship's A.I. said through the loud speakers.

"I'll see you guys in our quarters" he said before leaving the hug he had given to Tina.

He walked the hallways until he came to the medical ward, nodding to people he had never seen before as he went. When he walked in and went to the front desk, he told the receptionist/nurse that he was called up and she directed him to a room he was unfamiliar with. The was two recliners facing each other, carpeted floors, maroon walls and fake windows with fake forest scenery behind them. In one of the lounges was an elderly looking man who had a clip board and a pen in his hands.

"Ah Eric, how nice it is to finally meet you, I'm Dr. Derrick Phillips. Please take a seat" the elderly man said gesturing to the other seat.

Eric went over and sat, puzzled as to what this might be.

"Now Eric, I'm going to have to ask you a few questions, you know regulation stuff. But first, I want you to tell me about yourself"

"Uh, this is a psych eval isn't it" Eric said, a little unnerved.

"Yes, we believe you may be experiencing some trauma due to the last battle you were involved in"

"Understatement of the fucking century, no, that's not quite right. The fucking millennium."

"Well I'm not sure I understand what you're saying"

"I'm saying that yes, I'm traumatized. Who wouldn't be when they saw one of their closest friends, hell, he was family, one of their family members head explode. It detonated right before my eyes. His brain matter splattered my visor. Of course I'm fucking traumatized. But don't think that makes me a liability. If anything, it makes me kill them will more aggression, with hatred, with fucking vengeance. They will pay. All of them. And I will be the one who ensures justice is rained down on them in the fucking hellfire of lead and shrapnel I fling at them. No I'm going to leave, and I expect there won't be any problems regarding this pointless interview in the future" Eric bellowed, rage filling his every bone.

Before the good doctor could even reel back in shock, Eric had left. His destination; the gym. He stormed in and immediately walked over to the punching bag. Still in his dress uniform, he punched the bag with everything he had. The modern medicine and bone growth injections had healed his broken hand, but that wouldn't have stopped him from doing what he was doing. His flurry of punches were faster than the fastest jab a normal person could do and more powerful than a professional kick boxer could kick. He punched until the punching bag had broken at the connection point of his fists. Then he was calm, finally calm. He turned to leave to see two armed marines, MA37s aimed at his chest and trembling in their boots.

"Uh, hi guys. Watcha' doing with the guns" Eric asked rubbing the back of his neck with his bloody hands.

"someone called security, claiming a freak had gone crazy and was gonna' kill everyone" one of the marines said, sweat absolutely pouring from his brow.

"Oh, I guess I did get kind of crazy. Um, sorry for any inconvenience, I'll be going to my quarters now" Eric said before leaving the petrified marines behind.

He made it to his quarters in record time and opened the door.

"Holy shit Eric what happened to your hands" said a worried Tina who came over to inspect his injuries.

"Psych eval, they pushed the wrong buttons" he said shrugging it off.

"Oh god you didn't-"

"No no no no, I punched the shit out of a punching bag, some people got scared and called security, can you believe that? I actually scared people to the point that they feared for their lives. I'm not only a shitty leader, I'm a fucking monster too" Eric said starting to get riled up again.

"Hey calm down, you're not a monster and you're a great leader. Just please calm down" Tina said.

He nodded, kissed her cheek and thanked her before changing and going to bed.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: ok guys, short chapter i know. but try writing a funeral memorial thingy and a psych eval in the one chapter and have quality.**

**i meant to address this last chapter but to the anon reviewer know as 'ollie' the reason he doesn't feel anything for killing the covenant is pretty much because they are a collection of aliens whose only purpose in life is to annihilate all sentient life in the galaxy. im not sure about you but i would feel no remorse for killing them.**

**finally i would like to say, thank you to those of you who have reviewed. and PM me a picture you guys would think will be a suitable cover for this story**

**-Emo Kid**


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